Wind Electric Power Generation

The Wind Power Alternative to Carbon Based Energy

Like solar power, the wind has been utilized by civilizations for thousands of years. It only makes sense as wind is almost as regular as the sun rising and much easier to convert into power from its force.

Today, power generated from wind accounts for more than 2% (121.2GW) of the power used worldwide. It has come a long way from its humble beginnings pushing ships across bodies of water as early as 3500BC.

Although wind was ideal for naval propulsion, it wasn't seen in the inland uses until around 600AD when wind was used to power grain mills. Wind turbines (wind into electricity) were invented in 1887 which was shortly after the first ever power plant went operational in 1882.

The largest advantages that generating power from wind are actually some of the more competitive areas of power generation. Wind uses no exhaustible fuel, we'll have wind as long as we have an atmosphere, and it produces no emissions of any kind. The drawbacks are the relatively low output compared to a traditional fossil fuel plant or nuclear power plant and the unreliable nature of wind.

But even with those reasons preventing wind from covering all of our power generating needs, it is ideal for taking more and more load off of fossil fuels and harvesting what we can from a reusable source. Some countries like Denmark generate up to 20% of what they consume from wind turbines.